High Profile CEO Exit Packages

Hewlett-Packard’s former CEO Mark Hurd stepped down on Aug 6 after a public relations nightmare involving falsified expense reports and sexual harassment allegations. He didn’t, however, leave empty handed. Hurd is walking away with a severance package worth more than $30 million. Multi-million dollar parting gifts for CEOs are not uncommon, even when the chief executives leave the company under less-than-pleasant circumstances. CNBC asked executive compensation research firm Equilar to calculate the dollar value of some of the most high-profile golden parachutes. To get the severance package total, Equilar included the disclosed amounts received by each person including any bonuses paid out as part of the separation agreement. The firm also included the deferred compensation and pension benefits found in the proxy statement. The "stock price change during tenure” figure was calculated by CNBC and has been adjusted for dividend payments. Click ahead to find out which executives made the grandest exits. By Brooke SopelsaPosted 10 Aug 2010

Photo: AP Severance package: $1.2 billion Company: UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Years as CEO: 1991- 2006 Stock price change during tenure: +5,378% After leaving his CEO post, McGuire was forced to forfeit more than $400 million worth of stock options and retirement benefits to settle civil and SEC suits related to the company’s options practices. As part of his agreement with the SEC, he agreed not to serve as an officer or director of a public company for 10 years.

Photo: Getty Images Severance package: $392.5 million Company: ExxonMobil (XOM) Years as CEO: 1999 - 2005 Stock price change during tenure: +63% Raymond served as CEO of Exxon Corporation from 1993 until its merger with Mobil Oil in 1999. Raymond joined Exxon in 1963 as a production research engineer and worked his way up the ladder. He retired in 2005 and was succeeded by current CEO Rex Tillerson.

Photo: Jeffrey Sauger | Getty Images Severance package: $212 million Company: Home Depot (HD) Years as CEO: 2000 – 2007 Stock price change during tenure: -4% Nardelli left his post after a year of heavy criticism for everything from his pay package to the underperforming retailer’s corporate governance.

Photo: Toru Yamanaka | AFP | Getty Images Severance package: $195.8 millionCompany: Pfizer (PFE) Years as CEO: 2001 – 2006 Stock price change during tenure: -36% In the months leading up to his resignation, Pfizer’s Board of Directors became increasingly concerned with McKinnell’s management style and struggles to bring new drugs to the market, according to the NY Times.

Photo: Tim Sloan | AFP | Getty Images Severance package: $161.5 million Company: Merrill Lynch Years as CEO: 2002 - 2007 Stock price change during tenure: +51% O'Neal is widely blamed for steering the firm into subprime loans, which resulted in $8 billion in losses in the summer of 2007. O'Neal was replaced by John Thain.

Photo: Getty Images Severance package: $81.6 million Company: Walt Disney (DIS) Years as CEO: 1995 – 1997 Stock price change during tenure: +23% Ovitz served as Disney’s president for just 14 months before he left the company and got his hefty exit package. Investors sued Disney over the eye-popping payout, but Disney won and Ovitz received the full amount.

Photo: Getty Images Severance package: $41.9 million Company: Citigroup (C) Years as CEO: 2003 – 2007 Stock price change during tenure: -6% Prince retired after losses related to CDO and MBS investments caused multi-billion dollar write-downs and losses in the third quarter of 2007.

Photo: Getty Images Severance package: $33.1 million Company: Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) Years as CEO: 2005 – 2010 Stock price change during tenure: +123% Hurd stepped down after HP said he had falsified expense reports to conceal a relationship with a female contractor, who accused him of sexual harassment.

Photo: Getty Images Severance package: $10.8 million Company: General Motors (GM) Years as CEO: 2000 - 2009 Stock price change during tenure: -47%Wagoner was asked to step down as CEO by the Obama Administration in March amid the government's bailout effort. Several months later the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a move which Wagoner adamantly argued against throughout his final months on the job.

Photo: Bill Clark | Roll Call | Getty Images Severance package: $3.8 million Company: Freddie Mac (FRE) Years as CEO: 2003-2008 Stock price change during tenure: -98% Syron was at the helm of government-backed mortgage giant Freddie Mac during the most dramatic housing bubble burst in US history. Insiders say the former CEO rejected internal warnings that could have protected the company from some of the damage.

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